Brady: Impeachment getting in the way of progress

HOUSTON – U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady (R-The Woodlands) represents the Eighth Congressional District in Southeast Texas and said his constituents are not focused on impeachment as a high priority.

Brady is a guest on this week's Houston Newsmakers with Khambrel Marshall and said there are several areas on Capitol Hill where progress is being made, such as plans to guard against surprise medical billings and mechanisms to guard against spikes in healthcare costs.

Brady said the impeachment inquiry takes away from potential progress and said the Democrats are wrong.

"If you've got great evidence and you're running a fair process why do it in secret?" Brady said. "Why deny due process both to the president and to Republicans. Seems to me this is such a grave issue that it ought to be fair and it ought to be bi-partisan."

Bettencourt: HISD trustees forced themselves out of jobs

State Sen. Paul Bettencourt (R-Houston) serves on the Senate Education Committee and has long pushed the idea of the state taking over the largest school board in Texas. That has now happened with the Texas Education Agency sending a letter of notification to HISD this week.

Bettencourt is a guest this week and said the behavior of several members of the board helped lock in the TEA decision.

"When you've got the board president staring down an administrator, saying, 'I'm going to take your job if you don't move one of the two vendors,' and 'Pick the vendor I want you to pick or I'm going to fire you,' they have got to go."

Bettencourt didn't hold back about why the move was needed and what the future holds for the students of the Houston Independent School District.